Freshman big man Lawson Lovering finding a mentor in Evan Battey

As one of two scholarship seniors for the Buffaloes heading into the 2021-2022 season, forward Evan Battey understands the weight on his shoulders as Colorado inches closer to its first game Nov. 9 vs. Montana State.

CU's leader in offensive rebounds the last two years, Battey is fresh off a junior campaign in 2020-2021 that saw him average a career-high 10.1 points per game while shooting just under 50% (49.8) from the floor.

His performance last season earned him an honorable mention to the all-Pac-12 Conference Team.

Since his on-court debut in 2018-2019, the fifth-year senior has upped his points per game production every season he's played with the Buffs while also finishing second on the team in overall rebounding the past two years.

For Battey, who graduated from CU this past August with a degree in journalism, his credentials as a producer on offense and defense have been well-proven over the span of his career.

As he navigates through his final preseason with the Buffs, a new point of emphasis of his has been bringing along freshman center Lawson Lovering.

While the Buffaloes welcomed four new faces last year in guards Nique Clifford and Luke O'Brien plus forwards Tristan da Silva and Jabari Walker, Lovering will be spending a lot of his time in the post and on the block, making Battey the ideal veteran to show him the ropes.

The two routinely go up against one another in practice, and so far, Battey has been impressed with what he's seen out of Lovering.

“I’ve seen great things from Lawson already," Battey said. "Just in our four months together, I think his defensive instincts are probably the best of his abilities right now. With his awareness, he’s pretty good on defense. Above all, he comes in to battle every day and that’s something that I can appreciate."

For Lovering, CU's first Class of 2021 commit and an alum of Cheyenne Central High School in Wyoming, the discrepancy in talent from his preps days to now, having to attack and defend the likes of Battey daily, has been clear to see.

“Obviously, I was the best player on my high school team for three years and then coming here, I’m definitely not the best player anymore, especially going up against Evan every day," Lovering said.

"But he’s going to help get me better. Even when he scores on me or makes a good play on me, he always teaches and tells me how I can improve. He’s a great teacher and leader."

Lovering noted that ultimately, it can get frustrating practicing against Battey on a day-to-day basis.

While he towers over Battey to a degree in terms of height, the latter holds an advantage of close to 45 pounds over Lovering, who weighs about 220 pounds.

Thus, Lovering has had his hands full in working with Battey in practice, but that being said, it has not come without the silver lining of constantly learning.

“It’s tough," Lovering said. "He’s a great defender. Even though I’m four inches taller than him, it doesn’t really seem like that at times. He’s so good at moving you off the block. It’s very hard for me to get positioned down there. It always seems like he’s pushing me way off the block, which is helping me figure out how I can better maneuver myself and position myself well to get in a position to score easily."

"It’s very hard to fake stuff and drive on him because he’s obviously very big and very strong. It’s helping me learn and helping me get better, playing guys like him all the time.”

The way Tad Boyle sees it, Lovering toughing it out each day in practice against Battey is going to correlate directly to him being able to hang with high-major and Pac-12 bigs once the season gets underway.

With Lovering expected to see considerable minutes in 2021-2022, the trial by fire he's undergoing currently in practice is necessary for his longterm development.

"It’s certainly humbling in one sense, but it’s a challenge in another sense," Boyle said. "I think Lawson has embraced that challenge and he doesn’t shy away from it. He’s not begging for subs, he’s wanting to get as many reps as he can get going against Evan — I’m telling you, he is going to help us this year."

Battey is well-aware of the immediate history of CU hoops and some of the solid players that have come through Boulder, a few of whom he personally played with, others having left before he arrived.

As he's made the transition from greenhorn to veteran himself, Battey has come to understand the value of offering guidance to younger players.

It is with that in mind that Battey's undertaken a position of mentor to his freshman teammate.

"He’s the future of Colorado basketball at the big man position," Battey said of Lovering. "We’ve had some pretty good big men over the years: Tyler Bey, Josh Scott, Xavier Johnson, Wes Gordon, Dre Roberson — the list goes on — but he’s the future. I think that (by) mentoring him, if anything, I want to leave my imprint on the young guys."

"It’s putting him in the best position to be successful going forward, even when I’m not here next year. He’s so good, he’s come so far and I just want to keep furthering that so when I come in next year and come to a game, I’ll be proud.”